Machine for splicing up the ends of cotton, linen, and other threads



A. BENNETT.

MACHINE FO-R SPLICING UP THE ENDS 0F COTTON, LINEN, AND OTHER THREADS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 19.21.

1 ,42 1 1 5 1 3 Y Patented June 27, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

NVENTOR 4 JJflQ/wZ A. BENNETT.

MACHINE FOR SPLICING UP THE ENDS 0F COTTON, LINEN, AND OTHER THREADS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1921.

' 1,421,151. Pat'entedJune 27,1922.

4 SHEElS-SHEET 2- Fig.2.

A. BENNETT.

MACHINE FOR SPLICING UP THE ENDS 0F COTTON, LINEN, AND OTHER THREADS.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 5.1921.

1,421,151; PatentedJune27,1922L mums-shins.

773% rgwyr A. BENNETT. MACHINE FOB SPLICING UP THE ENDS 0F COTTON, LINEN, AND OTHER THREADS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5.1921

' Patented June 27,1922.

SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ETEEE rarest orrics.

ARTHUR BENNETT, OF I-IOLLINWOOD, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOB SPLICING UP THE ENDS 013 COTTON, LINEN, AND OTHER THREADS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pai gntgd June 27, 1922 Application filed May 5, 1921. Serial No. 467,150.

To all whom may concern: 2

Be it known that I, ARTHUR BENNETT, a- British subject, residing at Hollinwood, Lancashire, England, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Splicing Up the Ends of Cotton, Linen,

' andOther Threads, of which the following .is a'specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines forsplicing and piecing up the .ends of cotton, linen and similar threads and more particularly to machines of the type in which the twist is automatically taken out of the ends to be spliced and after splicing is l e-inserted into the spliced thread, such as described in the specification of my prior British Patent No. 20529 of 1913.

The present inventionconsists essentially in providing such machines with winding mechanism so that when the two ends have been spliced together the thread can be wound on to one of the bobbins without re- -moving the bobbins from the machine.

The invention will be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a front view of the driving end of the machine showing the bobbins 'A in the lowered position for splicing.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section showing the bobbins A raised for winding.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the. knocking-off motion. i

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing mechanism for holding the threads whilst the twist is being taken out and re-inserted. The bobbins A carrying the threads to be spliced are mounted on spindles a at the front of the machine and the bobbins A on spindles a at the back of the machine. The spindles a are carried on a horizontal rail B capable of being moved vertically by a rack I) and pinion Z) to raise the bobbins from the splicing to the winding position, whilst the spindles a are carried on afixed rail :13. The threads y from each of. the bobbins A. on the front spindles a pass through a holding device comprising a slotted tube 0 and screw clip 0. to a holding device (Z which holds the extreme end of the thread, the portion of the thread to be u-ntwisted'being held between the clip 0 and the device d. The end of the thread zfrom the corresponding bobbin A on a spindle a 13 also held between a holding device (Z and a screw clip 0 so that the two threads lie parallel to one another. 1

At one end of the frame L of the machine a shaft 7 is mounted carrying a fast and loose pulley 1 driven from any suitable source of power. Two pulleys 1 1 are keyedto the shaft 7 one at each end of the fast and loose pulley 1. The pulley 1 is connected by a crossed belt 5 with a fast and loose pulley 4 mounted, on the shaft E an abutment stop 15 on the rod 12 and the frame 13. The spring ll holds the belt fork 8 in the position to maintain the belt 5 on the loose pulley and when the fork 8 is moved to put the belt 5'on to the fast pulley the spring is compressed. The abutment stop 15 carries a bar 16 provided with a notch 17 into which aweighted lever 18 falls when the belt fork 8 is moved to bring the belt 5 into position on the fast pulley, thus preventing the spring 14L from moving the fork 8 back again until the lever 18 is raised by an automatic knock-off motion which will be described later.

The belt fork lOcontrolling the movement ofthe open belt 3 is provided with an upwardly projecting arm 19 carrying a rod 20 also sliding through the, frame 13. The rod 20 carries a spring 21 held between an abutment stop 22 on the rod 20 and the frame 13. The spring 21 holdsv the belt fork 10 in the position to maintain the belt 3 on the loose pulley and when the fork 10 is moved to put thebelt 3 on to the fast pulley the springQl is compressed. The abutment stop} 22 carries a bar 23 provided with a belt fork 10, back again until the lever 25 is raised by the automatic stop motion which will be described later.

The bosses of the belt forks 3 and 10 are made sufliciently wide so that when one is in the position to bring the corresponding belt on to its fast pulley the other cannot be moved. In Figs. 1 and 2 both belts are shown on the loose pulleys, the loose pulleys of ear-h fast and loose pulley 2 or 1, being on the outside and the fast pulley on the inside.

The shaft E is the shaft which operates the mechanism for first taking the twist out of the ends of yarn or thread to be spliced and then after splicing reinserting the twist therein so that it is necessary that the shaft E should be first rotated in one direction for a predetermined number of revolutions and then after the ends of the yarn or thread havebeen spliced together. rotated in the opposite direction for an equal number of revolutions.

The predetermined number of revolutions which the shaft E has to make depends on the amount of twist in the ends of the yarn or thread being spliced together.

The fast pulley of the fast and loose pulley 4 are employed to rotate the shaft E in the direction for removing the twist from the ends to be spliced together, and the fast pulley. of the fast and loose pulley 2 is employed to rotate the shaft E in the opposite direction to reinsert the twist after splicing. The functions of the pulleys 2 and 4, could be reversed depending on the direction of rotation of the main driving pulley 1.

In order to ensure that the right amount of twist is taken out of the ends before splicing and that the same amount is reinserted after splicing, it is necessary to provide an automatic knock-off motion which will release the weighted lever 18 from the notch 17 in the rod 16 and allow the spring 14 to return the belt fork 8 to the loose pulley of the fast and loose pulley 4 to stop the rotation of the shaft E when the requisite amount of twist has been taken out of the ends and which will also release the weighted lever 25 from the notch 24 in the bar 23 to permit the spring 21 to return the belt fork 10 to the loose pulley of the fast and loose pull y 2 to stop the rotation of the shaft E when the same amount of twist has been reinserted into the ends after they have been spliced together. j i

This automatic knock-off motion comprises a vertical rack 6, in a slot in which weighted lever 25 holding the belt fork 10 with the belt 3 on its fast pulley, is arranged in the path of the upper pin 26. It will thus be seen that when the rack 6 has moved downwards until the pin 27 has engaged the lever 18, the latter will be moved outof engagement with the notch 17 in the rod 16 and the spring 14L will move the belt for; S and cause the latter to carry with it the belt 5 from the fast to the loose pulley and so stop the rotation of the shaft E. Similarly when the shaft E is being rotated in the opposite direction by the belt 3 to reinsert the twist the engagement of the pin 26 with the end of the pivoted weighted lever 25 will cause the latter to be moved out of engagement with the notch 24 in the rod 23 and the spring 21 will move the belt fork 10 to carry the belt 3 from the fast to the loose pulley, thus stopping the rotation of the shaft E.

The rack 6 is carried in a suitable supporting tube 30 which is graduated to correspond to the number of revolutions of the shaft E required to take out and insert any given twist and is provided with a pointer 31 working over the gradations to assist in the adjustment of the pins 26 and 27.

The rack 6 is operated from a small pinion 32 on the shaft E which meshes with a larger gear 33. The gear 33 is connected to the small pinion 341 which meshes with the large gear keyed to a stud on a shaft on which is. also keyed the pinion 36 meshing with the teeth 37 of the rack 6. The rack 6 carrying the knocking-off pins 26, 27 is thus connected to the shaft E and comes into operation as described above.

The shaft E running the whole length of the frame A carries a number of pairs of spiral gears e, (2 the number of pairs of such gears being equal. to the number of spindles a carried on the front rail B. The spiral gears e 6 gear with spiral gears e e mounted on the tubes 0 on the ends of which are carried the thread screw clamping devices 0. The clamping devices 0 as will be seen from Fig. 5 are in the form of a screw the threads being held between thehead thereof and the flattened end of the shaft. The spiral gears e and the corresponding tube 0 of the clamping devices for the thread or yarn from the bobbins A are provided with slits extending to the centre to receive the thread or yarn but such an arrangement is not necessary for the thread or yarn from the bobbins A as in this case the thread does not extend beyond the clamp.

The other ends of the yarn or thread are held by clamping devices (Z adjacent to the bobbins A. The clamps d comprise a fixed plate d mounted on a bar P and a plate d carried on a rod D screwed at the end d engaging in the not 03 To clamp or unclamp the yarn or thread it is only necessary slackened the wedges "p can be driven in 'to tilt the "bar P and slackenfhe yarn 'or thread held between theo'lamps d and c. A bar Q is arrangedbetween the spiral gears e and the bobbins A provided-with pins 9 engagingctheyarn or thread. The bar Qis connected by a'cord g passing over a pulley to a Weight to impart ajcertain amount of drag tothe yarn-.orthread.

WVhere a thread is'composed of a number of strands it is advantageous to break the ends of the strands at different points along the length thereof to obtain a more uniform splicing. To obtain this a framework F is provided between the clamps d and 0'. (See Fig. 5.) The frame F is composed of a number of strips f carrying cutting edges f so that the different strands can be severed as desired.

The winding mechanism is actuated from a mangle wheel Gr loosely mounted on the shaft 7. A fast pulley H on the shaft 7 drives the fast and loose pulley H on the tin roller shaft h and through the gearing 72?, k drives the pinion g which drives the mangle wheel G. The mangle wheel G moves the racks G up and down in the usual way through the mangle rack G and pinion G The racks G carry the thread guides g which impart the necessary motion to the threads y and a after splicing whilst being wound on the bobbins A. The spindles a carrying the'bobbins A are rotated from the tin roller K through the spindle bands 70.

In operation the bobbins to be spliced together are placed on the spindles a and a and the ends of the threads held between the clamps d and 0 as shown in Fig. 5. The shaft E is then rotated the necessary amount to take the twist out of the length between the points 03 and 0', the shaft E being stopped by the automatic knock-off when this has been done. One of the ends is then removed from its clamps and laid over the other end and then spliced together. The shaft E is then rotated in the opposite direction to reinsert the twist the automatic knock-off motion stopping the rotation of the shaft E when this has been completed. The spliced and retwisted thread is then released from the holders 0' and d. The rail B carrying the bobbins A is raised by the rack 12 and pinion b to lift the bobbins A so that the spliced thread 2 will be clear of the splicing mechanism, see Fig. 2. The winding mechanism is then brought into action by the belt fork H moving the belt h from the loose pulleys to the fast pulley of the fast and loose pulleys H H, thus imparting the necessary winding Emotion ito the thread guidesg. Thethread ais ithus wound 011130 the b'obbins A fro1n the bobbins 5A without removing them from the anachine.

:Nliat I claim as my invention and desire to protect f by Letters'Patent is z '1. A machine for splicingrand piecing to- *gether theends of cotton, linen 'and similar threads, comprising unovable and fixe'd 'bo'b bin rails, winding mechanism, means= for ad- :justing the position of said movable rail, and clamping devices adapted-to receive' the ends of'it-he threads whensaid movablerail is in splicing position, the movable rail 'being adjusted to disengage the threads from said devices before the winding operation for the spliced threads is started.

2. A machine for splicing and piecing up the ends of cotton, linen and similar threads, comprising fixed and movable bobbin rails, a driving shaft, an auxiliary shaft, pairs of fast and loose pulleys on said shafts, a shiftable belt connecting said pairs of pulleys, winding mechanism actuated by said auxiliary shaft, means for vertically adjusting the position of said movable rail, and clamping devices adapted to receive the ends of the threads when said movable rail is in lowered position.

3. A machine for splicing or piecing up cotton, linen or similar threads comprising spaced sets of bobbins, clamps for the ends of the threads, a shaft for rotating said clamps first in one direction and then in the other to take out and re-insert the twist in the thread ends, a fast, and loose pulley arrangement for driving said shaft first in one direction and then in the other, and an automatic knock-off motion to stop the rotation of said shaft after the latter has made a predetermined number of revolutions for taking out or. re-inserting the twist, in combination with means for moving the threads out of engagement with said clamps without removing the bobbins from the machine, and means for winding the spliced threads in the bobbins.

4. A machine for splicing or piecing up cotton, linen or similar threads, comprising clamps for the ends of the threads, a shaft for rotating said clamps first in one direction and then in the other to take out and re-insert the twist in the ends of the thread, a fast and loose pulley arrangement for driving said shaft first in one direction and then in the other, and an automatic knockolf motion to stop the rotation of the shaft after the latter has made a predetermined number of revolutions for taking out or reinserting the twist, in combination with a bobbin rail capable of being raised, a rack and pinion to raise the bobbin rail, a fixed bobbin rail, a rotating drum for driving the bobbin spindles of said fixed rail, a driving shaft, and means adapted to impart motion from said driving shaft to said drum.

5. A machine for splicing or piecing up cotton, linen or similar threads, comprising a fixed bobbin rail and a bobbin rail adapted to be moved vertically, winding mechanism, means for adjusting the vertical position of said movable rail, and clamping devices adapted to receive the ends of the threads when said movable rail is in lowered position.

6. A machine for splicing and winding threads, supporting rails at the ends of said machine, fixed bobbin-carrying spindles on one of said rails and rotatable bobbin-carrymy hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR BENNETT. Witnesses J. OWDEN OBRIEN, HARRY BARNFATHER, 

